Privacy Policy

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

On May 25th 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes in to force. As one of the UK’s leading gay brands, QX takes the privacy of its users very seriously.

For the purposes of the GDPR, Firststar Limited is the data controller of the personal data provided to us and this Privacy Policy details how we collect, use and store your personal data. This Privacy Policy also sets out your rights under the GDPR legislation.

If you are unhappy about the way your enquiry has been managed, you can refer your complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Personal Data We Collect and Process

Firststar Ltd will collect and process Personal Data about you if we have your permission to send you marketing information or if we are otherwise allowed by law. For example, we will collect and process an email address if you request an email newsletter, or if we are contracted to supply a printed magazine subscription then we will need to collect and process the subscribers name, address and payment details.

We will also collect information in order to make our services more effective and to sell advertising space across our magazines, maps, websites and apps. Advertising keeps QX Men magazine free for people to visit on line or to pick up free printed copies in venues.

Specific examples of the personal data that we collect and process include the following:

When you register to receive the qxmagazine newsletter: We collect your email address and name, if you choose to give it.

When you register on the QXApp by PageSuite: We collect your email address, name, and city if you choose to give it. You do not need to give these details if you do not want to, and you can still download and use the app. PageSuite also uses a UDID collection service for all of it’s apps. The data is completely anonymous. The UDID capture is used only for restoration of subscriptions and previous purchases. Unlike many other mobile applications, PageSuite do not use this unique identifier to push any other services, whether it be advertisements, purchasing history, likes/interests etc. This service is purely for restoration of items and subscriptions you may have purchased.

You may have your picture taken at an event that may appear in the magazine. You can request to remove it from our website by contacting the Data Protection Officer as detailed above.

When you enter competitions we collect your name and email. If you win a competition you may also need to give us your address so that we can deliver the prize.

When you advertise or enquire about advertising with us we collect your name, address and contact details and relevant billing information.

When you subscribe to a printed magazine or other printed matter, we collect your name, contact details, delivery address, and payment details.

When you apply for a job at Firststar Limited we process your personal data in order to facilitate the application process.

When you visit our website, through cookies: Our website, like many others, stores and retrieves information on your browser using cookies. This information is used to make the site work as you expect it to. It is not personally identifiable to you, but it can be used to give you a more personalised web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose to change your privacy preferences to prevent non-essential cookies being set

Types of Cookies

Below is a list of the type of cookies we use on our websites.

– Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you and amount to a request for services. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site may not work then.

_cfduid is a Strictly Necessary Cookie we use to digitally protect our websites

– Performance Cookies

These show us how many visitors we have and how they move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site. We use Google Analytics cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources, so we can measure and improve the performance of our site.

_ga_gat _gid are the three Google Performance Cookies that we use.

-Unlike many websites, we do not use Targeting Cookies.

By using the sites you are agreeing to the use of cookies as described.

QX will only use personal information for the purposes for which it was originally collected and we will make sure we delete it securely in a timely manner.

If Firststar Limited or any of our service providers transfer personal data out of the European Economic Area, it will only be done with the relevant protection, as stated in UK law, being in place.

Lawful Basis For Processing

Firststar Limited publishes magazines and there are legitimate business purposes for which we need to process personal data. That includes photographs taken at events, in clubs and bars. Firststar Limited has a legitimate interest in the processing of such personal data. However, should you wish to have a photo removed from our website please contact the Data Protection Officer, details above.

Firststar Limited is a publisher. The law permits us to process personal data in order to fulfil our contractual obligations in the provision of our publishing services.

Where we have a legal obligation, UK law requires that we process some personal data so that we are compliant.

As a publishers we also provide marketing services. However, we will only use your personal data to provide you with marketing information when we have a record of your consent to do this or where we have a legitimate interest.

To stop us sending you marketing messages just click on the ‘opt-out’ links on any marketing message we send to you, whether as an email or SMS, or you can contact us via the contact details listed above.

However, if you don’t provide certain personal data we may be prevented from servicing a contract we have with you.

The Length Of Time We Keep Your Personal Data

We keep all billing, accounting records, magazine postal subscriptions, communication history, and customer service communications for 7 years.

Website comments and other personal data relating to editorial are kept for the life time of the editorial.

We keep some personal data of people who have ‘opted out’ of receiving marketing material. This means we only keep a list of the relevant email address or telephone number so we can check that we do not market to them again.

The law may require us to keep your personal data for a longer period of time. We may also need to keep it for other legal reasons and where we have a legitimate interest to keep it.

The Need to Share Personal Data

Unlike many companies, we never give your data to any other party to use for their own marketing purposes.

However, technology has become very advanced and in some instances we simply wouldn’t be able to offer certain publishing and marketing services without using the sophisticated technology developed by other companies. Sometimes, therefore, we need to share your personal data with these third party providers as they help us to provide the services that we have agreed to provide you with. However, we only provide them with the personal data that they need in order to provide you with the service. They are all reputable companies and we require them to keep your personal data secure. We require them to be compliant with GDPR and they are never permitted to use your personal data for their own marketing purposes.

Our Processing Third Parties

The list below are our data processing third parties. All third party service providers have been audited. If we use any other organisation to provide a service for us we make sure that they have the appropriate security measures in place and are GDPR compliant.

– GoogleAnalytics – Data processor for website analytics.

We use Google Analytics on our sites for anonymous reporting of site usage and for advertising on the site. If you would like to opt-out of Google Analytics monitoring your behaviour on our sites please use this link (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/)

We use VoodooSMS and they process advertiser telephone numbers for us to deliver SMS reminders, promotions, and updates. You can unsubscribe at any time via the SMS message that you may receive or you can unsubscribe by contacting us directly at the above.

You must give your active consent in order to receive these notifications. However, should you no longer wish to receive these notifications then you can switch this off by going to your mobile phone’s settings and turn notifications off. Click here on how to do that.

When you sign up for our newsletter you ‘opt in’. We use MailChimp to process your personal data. You can unsubscribe any time via the MailChimp newsletter, or by contacting us directly at the above.

Other Third Parties We Use To Process Personal Data Relate To The Following:

We may pass your personal data to credit reference agencies, for fraud prevention, and to pursue debtors as a legitimate interest.

We may pass your personal information to a third party for the purposes of delivering published material to you (such as maps or magazines, and other guides), whether in print or digitally which is necessary for our legitimate interests.

We may transfer your personal information to a third party if permitted by GDPR, for example in order to comply with the law.

Our websites use plug-ins from social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. For information on how they use information, please read their privacy policies.

Some of our webpages use links to other websites. For information on how these websites use information, please read their privacy policies.

We Care About Your Privacy

We are fully compliant with the new GDPR legislation.

Any information that we hold on you is protected with the appropriate security technology in place.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow third party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

About Our Marketing

You will never receive marketing from other organisations as Firststar Limited does not give personal data to third parties for this purpose.

You may receive the following types of marketing communications from us:

Texts and emails: If you have ‘opted in’ to receive specific emails or texts, or if you are an existing customer and we have a legitimate interest.

Post: If you subscribe to a qx magazine subscription by post you may receive a renewal reminder with your magazine subscription. If you have requested a media pack we may post you one.

Telephone: If you are a business or sole trader we may call you about services that may be of interest to you. We check all numbers on the register of Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) and Telephone Preference Service (TPS). If you are an individual with a postal subscription we may call you in relation to the provision of that service.

Push notification: If you have opted in to do so when subscribing to the QXApp from PageSuite (you can opt out by adjusting your phone’s preferences).

‘Opt Out’

You will be able to ‘opt out’ at any time if you no longer want to receive marketing material. We have made this process easy.

When you ‘opt out’ of receiving these marketing messages, or unsubscribe, you may not be able to access some of our services.

However, we will still need to contact you about the services you use so we may contact you occasionally with information, questions or reminders about those services you use.

Adult Only Personal Data

We do not offer any of our products or services directly to children under the age of 18, so we do not knowingly control or process personal data of anyone under the age of 18.

Updating your personal information

We offer an Email Preferences page, where you can update your personal information at any time, and change your marketing preferences. You can get to this page from the email newsletter.

Changes to this policy

If we make changes to our Privacy Policy that are significant, we will let you know by sending you an email, an SMS, or a letter, whichever is the most appropriate.